Nut-tapping machine.



IVI. E. NOYES.

NUT TAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.30. 1913.

ATTORNEY.

M. E. NOYES.

NUT TAPPING MACHINE.

. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30. I9I3.

WITNESSES.' INVEN'I'OR.

' M. E. NOYES.

NUT TAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG30I 1913.

1,218,691. I Patented m1319171 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.,

IVI TNI'ISSI'IS.' INI/ENT() MAYHEW E. Norris, or CLEVELAND, onto.-l

NUT-TAPPING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. is, fait.

Application filed August 30, 1913. Serial N o. 787,414.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAYHEW E. NOYES, a citizen of the United States,residingv -at Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in N ut-Tapping Machines,and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionofthe same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use the same, refer-l ence being had to theaccompanying 4drawings, which forma part of this specification.

This invention relates Ato machines for tapping nut blanks orthe'like,and its object is a comparatively simple and efficient machinefor automatically threading apertured blanks which are continuously -fedto vthe tap and automatically removed therefrom. A novel feature of theinvention resides in the mechanism employed in feeding the blanks ontothe tap and in holding the tap and revolving the vblank relative theretoto thread the same, and also in the mechanism employed in holding thetap and the arrangement whereby` the finished blanks' 4are removed fromthe tap in succession.

rlhese and otherobjects and novelties of the invention are hereinaftermore fully described and claimed and shown in the ac companying drawingsin which- Figure 1 is a vertical section Aof my/m- I. proved device online mof Fig. 2.

blanks in its relation to the tap and the Fig. 2 is al front elevationof the device partly in section taken on line m-m of.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detailpartlyin section showing the collet or chuckfor the means of operating the same.

Fig. 4 is a detailv plan view of the tap holding device.

Fig. 5 is a detail of means employed to reciprocate the push-bar toremove a blank mechanism hereinafter described.- The machine, as may beinferred froni Fig. 2, is provided with duplicate tapping devices toeach'of which blanks are automatically fed.

from hoppers individual thereto as hereinafter shown,'and a descriptionof one of these devices i`s believed suicient for all, and as each isactuated and operates in the same manner and, while only two of suchdevices are shown in the drawing, the machine may be designed to includeandv to jointly operate as many such devices as may be practicable.

At the rear of the feed table and substantially centrally of the machineis the.

chuck 4, the upper end of which is practically -flush with the uppersurface of the feed table. is a hopper 5 for the blanks which is open atboth ends and a push-bar 6, hereinafter described, reciprocates beneaththe open lower end of the hopper removing a blank therefrom and forcingit out over the u per open end of the chuck where it is hel between thespring pressed fingers 7 and 8.

In vertical alinement with each chuck is a plunger- 9 having a removablelower end portion 10 the end vof which engages the blank placed betweenthe fingers Z .and 8 forcing it downward into the chuck. rEhe chuck,being revolved in a. manner hereinafter described, revolves the blankand threads it onto the tap 50 which is held from -rotation centrallywithin the chuck. The.

end of the said portion 10 is hollow in order that the end of the tapmay pass therelnto as the plunger end forces the blank onto th tap.

vThe main drive-shaft 11 extends across the machine at the rear of thesaid chucks and, at a point opposite each chuck, a spiral drive gear 12is keyed to the shaft 11, mesh- Also mounted on, the feed table ing witha corresponding spiral gear v13 on j the chuck retainer 14. rlhe chuckand re-l lated parts are shown more clearly in Fig. 3, and it may therebe seen'that the holder' 14 is carried in the frame on ball bearings f15 to reduce the friction produced by the forcing of the blank into thetap. The chuck 4. is set linto the holder 14 which 1s slotted at' 16,16, to receive the ears l17 on the chuck. The upper end of the holder isl' threaded to receive the securing nut '18: which engages the ears onthe chuck, hold- 11ol Y ing it in position in the holder and also.,holdingitv from rotation relative. to` the v holder wherebyfrotation .ofthe` holder through the medium of the gears rotates the.'

chuck aboutthe tap. 'llhe chuck is-preferably made in two halves and isremovable from the holder by removing the nut 18- whereby chucksofvarious sizes may be 'used with the machine, which is thus adapted tooperate on blanks of various sizes.v rlhe end portion l0 of the plunger9, being in threaded engagement with the plunger may also be readilyremoved I and replaced by a similarv part of greater or less sizedepending upon the size of tap and chuck employed.

As may be seen more clearly in Fig. 1,v

the plunger 9 is provided with a collar 19 fiXed thereto and a collar 20below the co1- lar 19 slidable on the plunger carried in the forked end21 of the cam lever 22 pivoted at 23 to the upper part of the framework.rllhe lever 22 is provided with a roller 24 eX- tending to one sidethereof as may be seen in Fig. 2 engaging in a cam groove 25 in a camwheel 26 on the shaft 27, which shaft is driven by sprocket chain 2 8from the main drive shaft l1.

By reason of the roller 20 being slidable on the plunger 9, it engagesthe collar 19 and raises the plunger during rotation of cam wheel 26 atwhich period a blank Iis introduced between the fingers 7 and 8 over theupper end of the chuck. The collar 20 thereupon descends relative to theplunger allowing the plunger to rest on the blank whereby the weightonly of the plunger` forces the blank downward into the chuck and on tothe tap which arrangement allows the blank to feed onto the tap, as isdetermined by the revolution of the chuck. rlhe 'weight of the plungerthus insures the positloning of the blank and startingit onto the tap.rl`he blank is then drawn downward onto the tap 50, which is heldstationary, at

' a speed which is determined by the pitch of the threads on the tap.

As 1s shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the

upper end of the chuck is counter-bored a blank passing down into thelchuck a sufli` cient distance to be caught and revolved thereby. Bythis construction of the chuck, the nut blank may be forced intov thereceiving end thereof a certain distancefbefore be ing rotated`thereby.l As the' chuck rotates, it happensniore often than otherwise that thehexagonal faces ofthe nut blank,'on being delivered into thecounterbore, do not register with the faces of the chuck but, byproviding the counterbore in the chuck someiaiacer what greater iiadiameter than the distance across corners of the blank, the blank maylreadily enter the throat and, if the faces are not in registration withthe faces of the chuck, the corners of the bla-nk rest onthe inclined orbeveled edges 29. As the plun- -ger operates to force these blanksdownward into the chuck and onto the tap during rotation of the chuck,the corners of the nut moved forward or back to adjust the hopper.

to receive blanks of various sizes. Flach plate is provided with anupright portion 3.3, secured to which are plates 34 of such form as toengage about the hexagonal blanks.. As shown more clearly in Fig. 6, toeach plate 30 and 31 is hingedly secured a finger l7 and 8- respectivelyforming with the plates a raceway at the bottom of-the hopper formed bythe portions 33 and plates. 34. Each finger 7 and 8 is provided with alaterally extending vportion 35 to which is secured a leaf-spring 36vengaging against the plate 30 or 31 to which the finger is hinged.rlhese springs tend to force the free ends of the fingers together and,therefore, a. nut blank forced out between the fingers is held inposition by reason of the springs engag ing against the plates.

As heretofore stated, the blanks are removed from the hopper by means ofa pushbar 6, there being a bar 6 for each hopper on the machine, whichis adjustably* mounted on a slide 37 more clearly shown in Figs. 1 and2. This slide is reciprocated by a gear 38 on the shaftl39 which has anoscillatory movement produced by mechanism more clearly shown in Figs. 2and 5. 'The shaft 139 is provided witha gear 40 near one end thereofcarried in a casing 41, in the-upper portion of which is a rack42connected by a link 43 tothe end of a lever 44 -pivoted at 45 to theframeof the machine. The outward end of thel lever 44 is provided with aroller 46engaging in a cam groove 47' which may be convenientlyy formedupon onevside of one of the cam wheels 26, and the cam 47 is soformed asvto move the'rack 42 backward and forward acrossfithe face of the gear40' thereby oscillating the shaft 39,` and through the medium of thegears 38 recipro eating the slides 37. The gears 33 are not keyed to theshaft 39 but each'is frictionally held from rotation by the ber disks'380- and 'lidi 381 which are drawn tightly into engagement with thesides of the gear by the nut 382 on the collar 383 pinned to the shaft.

The fiber disks are clamped between the head of the collar and the nut.This arrangement allows the gears to slip and prevents injury thereto ifa blank should be caught or held in any unintended manner.

As may be seen more clearly in Fig. 1, the push-bar 6.is slotted toreceive a set screw 48, and the slide 37 is provided with a set Screw 49engaging the end of the push-bar so that the push-bar may be set in anydesired position with the end thereof engaging against the screw 49 andsecured'in position by the set screw 48. The push-bar may thus beadjusted to accommodate different sizes of blanks, and as the push-baris brought forward beneath the hopper the blank is pushed out betweenthe spring pressed fingers 7 and 8 and positioned above the chuck intowhich it is forced by the weight of the plunger which is brought to restthereon at the properly timed intervals, as determined by the cam 25.

As may be seen more clearly in Figs. 1 and 3,'the tap 50 Ais providedwith a shank 51 less i in diameter than the tap onto which the iinishedblanks pass as they thread themselves l 0E from the tap. The tap is heldfrom rotation by two pairs of pivoted arms 52, 52l

and 53, 53a, each carrying a jaw 54 of Vv shaped face adjustable in asocket in the end of each of the arms by means of the set screws 55 and56, shown more clearly in Fig. 4. The opposite ends of the arms' areprovided with like extensions 57 upon which 'are positioned rollers 58,58, and at the eX- treme end a coiled spring 59 is secured, there beingAa spring 59 for each pair of arms which tends to hold the jaws in anopen position. l

As may be seen in Fig. 1, these jaws are pivoted on a rod 60rand a camrod 61 is provided at the rear thereof vertically reciprocatable inbearings provided in the framework. This rod is provided with a cut-outor cam portion 62 and when cam portion 62 is brought between the rollers58 of one pair of arms, the spring 59 draws the ,rollers into contactwith such narrow portion of the rod 61 and opens the jaws which areclosed when the full diameten'of therod is forced between the rollers.The narrow cam portion of the rod is of such length that only one pairof thevarms are allowed to open at a time, and thus, in a verticalmovement of the .rod 61 in its bearings, the lowermost pair of arms mayrst open andas the por? both sets of aws are closed, and as the part 62travels upward, the upper jawson the arms 52 open. The blank intraveling down` the shank 5,1,of theV tap first rests upon the jaws of-th'eupper arms 52 and when they are opened by a proper movement of thecam rod this blank falls by gravity onto the jaws in the lower arms 53which'a're at that time closed. The cam rod 61 then' descends closingthe upper jaws, which will stopthe succeeding blank from the tap, andthen opens the lower jaws which will allow the those points engaged bythe V shaped jaws 54 in both setsof arms and the jaws being V shapedrotationof the shank and tap is prevented. The distance across cornersof the squared portions of the shank is not greater than the diameter ofthe shank and, therefore, the inished nuts may pass freely by gravitydown the shank. j

The vertically positionedcam rod 61 is reciprocated in its bearings by alever 63 pivoted to the frame, one end of whichis slotted to receive therod 61, and to the opposite end is pivoted a rod 64. To the end of thelever 22 is pivoted a similar rod 65, and contiguous ends of the rods 64and 65 are threaded to receive the right and left hand threadedends'respectively of the adjusting screw 66. This adjusting screwenables the cam rod 61 to be properly positioned relative to the holdingarms 52 and 53, and rotation of the cam wheel 26, which operates thelever 22 through the medium of the roller 24 in the cam groove 25,reciprocates the cam-rod 61 in itstbearings.` As shown in Fig. 1, thelower part of the machine 'is provided with a chamber and the deliverytable 3 does not extend completely over the chamber thus providinganopening 71 into said chamber at the lower end of the delivery table.This chamber is partially lled with oil and a centrifugal pump 72 islocated at the back of the machine provided with-an inlet incommunication with this oil 'chambzer 70, and as shown by dotted linesin 'said Fig. 1', a flexible tube 7 3 is provided 'extending from theoutlet to the pump to the hollow interior of the end portion 10 of theplunger, whereby oil is continually-fed onto the nut blank The loilflowing onto the blank `passes through the chuck and falls onto thedelivery table 3 down which"it iows by gravity and into the chamber 70through the openl ing 71 heretofore mentioned.A The slot or opening 71is so positioned that finished nuts in passing down ,the .delivery tablepass over the opening 7:1 and do not ,fall into the chamber, The inletto the pump, as is us'ual in a device of this nature, is provided with ascreen to prevent metallic Waste passing into the pump.

lin operation each hopper 5 is filled with blanks and is kept in suchcondition by any approved means, or by an attendant, and these blanksare fed one by one to and between the spring pressed lingers 7 and 8above each chuck or collet 4. rlhe end 10 of each plunger is thenbrought to rest upon these blanks, the weight of which forces the blankfrom between the fingers into the rotating chuck which rotates the blankbyreason of itsbeing engagedby the hexagonal faces and inclined upperedges 29 thereof at the bottom of the` counter-bore in the'chuck. Asthese blanks rotate they are forced downward onto the taps down whichthey move by reason of the pitch of threads on the taps. The camsoperating the plungers are of such shape as to allow the plungers toreston the blanks for a period sufcient to insure their being engaged by thetaps whereupon the plungers are raised, a blank inserted between thefingers 7 and 8 and the operation repeated. rllhe first blank continuesits travel down the tap while a second blank is being positioned in theupper end of the chuck. As the nished nut passes from the tap, it fallsby gravity down the shank thereof on to the upper pair of jaws whichhold the shank, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

'The upper jaws then open allowing the lank to fall onto the lowerholding jaws as -shown by full lines in Fig. 3. rl`he upper jaws thenclose engaging the shank, and the lower jaws then open allowing theblank to drop od the end of the shank onto the def.

livery tableB lt is thus to be seen that the operationmf ,I the machineis entirely automatic, it only being necessary to keep the hoppersfilled with the apertured blanks, which are continuously fed into themachine and' pass therefrom in a finished condition.

Having thus fully described my invention, its utilityand'mode ofoperation, what ll claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe1United States isl. ln a nut tapping machine, a continuously rotatablechuck, a tap therein, means for supporting a stack of blanks adjacentthe chuck, a blank holding device above the chuck, means. fortransferring a blank from the stack to the holder, and means fordelivering the blank from the holder into the chuck and onto the tap.

2. lin a nut tapping machine, a continuously rotatable chuck, a 'tapheld stationarily within the chuck, means for supporting a stack ofblanks adjacent the chuck, a holder for a single blank adj acentthemouth of thechuck, means for transferring a blank from the stack to theholder, and a plunger Laisser for transferring the blank from the holderinto the chuck and onto the tap.

3. lln a nut tapping machine, a continuously rotatable chuck, astationary tap eX- tending into the chuck, a blank holding deviceadjacent the mouth of the chuck, means for delivering blanks insuccession to the l holding device, means for transferring a blank fromthe holding device into the chuck, the chuck being recessed to receivethe .u

blank prior to its engagement with the tap, i

' ing blanks in succession into the chuck, the

chuck being recessed to receive the blank prior to the engagementthereof with the' tap, and means for delivering the nished Anuts fromthe tap.

5.v lin a nut` tapping machine, a continuously rotatable chuck, astationaryl tap extending into the chuck, means for introducing blanksin succession into the chuck, said means including a plunger for forcingthe blank into the chuck, the chuck having faces corresponding with thefaces of the blank for a portion of its length, said chuck beingrecessed at the mouth to receive the blank .prior to its engagement withthe tap and so formed that movement of the blank longitudinally of thechuck turns the blank to bring the faces into registration with thefaces of the` chuck prior to engagement of the blank with the tap, andmeans for delivering the finished nuts fromthe tap.

6. ln a machine of the kind described, ahollow rotatable chuck forblanks, a tap within the chuck, automatic mechanism forpositioning'blanks consecutively in the chuck in engagement with thetap, the receiving end of the chuck being counter-bored a depthsubstantially equal to the thickness of the blank and of a diametergreater than the dis- .tance across corners of the blank, said chuckhaving faces corresponding to the side faces of the blank, said faces onlthe chuck being ybeveled or inclined at the bottom of the counter-boreto insure proper engagement of the blank thereby, and means for holdingthe tap stationary, said means beingarranged to -f pass the nishedblanks consecutively from the tap.

7. ln a machine of the kind described, a

vertically 'positioned hollow chuck blanks, means for continuouslyrotating the chuck, a vertically positioned 'tap within the chuckprovided with ashank'extending from the delivery end of the chuck, ahopper for blanks, intermittently actuated means for're-H v moving ablank from the. ho per, means fori;v receiving and holding the-removedlblank above the receiving end of the chuck,".a grave ity actuatedplunger for forcing the blank 12o for into the chuck in engagement withthe tap, means for raising the plunger for successive operations, theVrotation ofthe chuck forcing the blank downward longitudinally of thetap, and means engaging the said shank of the tap for holding the tapstationarily with the chuck, saidshank being less in diameter than thethreaded aperture in the blank whereby the finished blanks may pass bygravity down the shank, said holding means for the tap being arranged toallow the finished nuts to pass by gravity off from the tap. 1

8. In a machine of the kind described, a hollow chuck for nut blanks,meansfor continuously rotating the chuck, a stationary tap within thechuck, a hopper for blanks, blank receiving means adjacent the receivingend of the-chuck, a reciprocatable push-bar for consecutively removingblanks from the hopper and delivering them to the said blank receivingmeans, means for reciprocating said push-bar, a gravity actuated plungerfor forcing a blank from the said receiving means into the chuck inengagement with the tap, therotation of the chuck forcing the blanklongitudinally of the tap, and means for raising the plunger for-successive operations.

9. In a nut tapping machine a hollow rotatable chuck for blanks 4havinga number of interior faces corresponding to the number of sides of theblank formed parallel with the axis of the chuck and extending a portionof the length thereof, the mouth of the chuck being counterbored andadapted to receive a blank, the ends ofthe faces adjacent thecounterbore being formed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of thechuck, a stationary tap extending into the chuck and terminating belowthe bottom of the counterbore, and means for forcing the. blank into thechuck onto the tap, said inclined endsof the faces providing a means forbringing the faces of the blank into registration with the faces of thechuck prior to the time the blank engages the tap.

l0. In a machine of the kind described, a

chuck for blanks, a holder in which theV chuck is removably supported,means for rotating the holder, a tap stationarily held within the chuck,av hopper adjustable for various sizes of blanks, spring pressed blankreceiving fingers adjacent the receiving end of the chuck, means forremoving blanks in consecutive order from the hopper to and between saidreceiving lingers, a gravity actuated plunger for forcing the blanksfromof the hopper to and over the receiving end of the chuck, a portion ofthe walls of the raceway. above the chuck being swiveled to move in ahorizontal plane, a spring on each swiveled portion tending to force thewalls together, means for consecutively removing blanks from the hopperand positioning them between said swiveled walls, a hollow ended plungeractuated by gravity to force a blank from between said walls on to thetap f in the chuck, and means for raising the plunger for successiveoperations.

12. In a machine of the kind described, aI

hollow, rotatable chuck, a stationary tap within the chuck, means forconsecutively positioning blanks at the receiving end of the'chuck, anda plunger adapted to force the blank into the chuck onto the tap, theplunger being recessed to receive the end of the tap.

13. In a machine of the kind described, a,

hollow, rotatable chuck for blankshaving a j number of interior faces coesponding to the number of sides of the blan and extendinglongitudinally therethrough parallel with the axis of the chuck, astationary tap within the chuck, the chuck being counterbored at theblank receiving end andthe tap terminating adjacent the bottom of thecounterbore, and automatic mechanism. for de u livering blanksconsecutively into the chuc and onto the tap. l

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

MAYHEW E. NOYES. Witnesses: j A. F. CARTWRIGHT,

GEO. KNAUs.

